Consumer Goods & Retail
Barnes & Noble Founder Wants to Buy Retail Business
Founder Leonard Riggio’s proposal excludes Barnes & Noble’s Nook business
Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) founder Leonard Riggio wants to buy the company’s retail business.
Riggio, who is Barnes & Noble’s largest stockholder and chairman of the board, does not plan to buy the business of Barnes & Noble’s e-book product, Nook. He filed a Schedule 13-D with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcing his intention to buy the business on Feb. 25. The price would be negotiated with the board of directors.
The move is viewed as an attempt to save the company, which has experienced declining profits.
The proposal will be evaluated by a strategic committee of independent directors, advised by Evercore Partners. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison is serving as the directors’ legal counsel. There is no timetable for the review.
In December, Pearson plc (NYSE: PSO) agreed to buy a five percent stake in Nook Media LLC, which makes the Nook e-book, for $89.5 million. In April, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) agreed to pay $300 million for a 17.6 percent stake in Nook.
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